Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Guess I'm Not Going to India After All

Hello everyone,

A few months ago I shared the news that I would be traveling to Chennai, India for two months to work on a research project. It seems like that is not going to happen now. I was originally scheduled to leave at the end of January and come home next week. As I am still in Nebraska, this schedule has been thrown out the door. My professors continue to hope that we will be able to make a trip before the end of the semester in May.

The issue, I still don't have a visa. The original applications were done in December and new applications done at the beginning of February. As of February 27, I've been waiting for approval of the government of India. I got an email today from the outsourcing company where I had to send my application. They will be mailing my passport back to me because my visa application is still being processed and "it is likely to take more time to obtain clearance". They want to make sure I have it in case of other travel.

If my application is ever ok-ed, I will need to send my passport back and wait for them to return it, adding another week of processing time. As there are approximately six weeks left in the semester, travel to India seems doubtful. It's unfortunate I got five vaccines and have malaria medication sitting on my living room floor. What a waste. Well, what can you do?

10 comments:

  1. Boo to India... They are missing out on so much awesome!

    Hugs!

    Valerie

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    1. Thanks. I'm just amazed it's that difficult to get a visa. Don't they want me to come and help improve their traffic operations?

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  2. I'm here from Thumping Thursdays.

    I'm sorry to hear your news. :( I thought obtaining a Visa was a fairly simple process. I hope it's cleared up and you do get to take your trip.

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    1. I've gotten the impression it's easy to get a visa if you're traveling as a tourist. The other student I would have gone with had to get a visa to enter Egypt a few years ago. To do that, you simply pay a bit of money when you land in the Cairo airport and you're good.

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  3. That is unfortunate. :/ Visas are a huge pain for the non-tourist. Good luck getting things sorted in time...

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  4. I hope you get to India at some point! Stopped by via Aloha Friday Blog Hop.

    http://penpaperpad.com.

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  5. Hello dear, I really like your blog, it’s very interesting! What about following each other? Also on bloglovin and facebook …just let me know If you follow me, I follow you back.
    Kisses, have a nice day!

    Le Blog de Michelle
    Facebook

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  6. I feel for you. The Indian bureaucracy sounds about as bad as the New Zealand one.

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